Ramblings of a Plywood Peddler

This one is for Zack....hope you like it!!

2007-11-28T08:10:00.000-06:00

With the impending SEC title game between the Vols and the Tigers I thought Zack could use a little ribbin'!!!!

And One For Gary Z....

Are we there yet?

2007-11-27T12:00:00.000-06:00

Do you ever feel like no matter what you do or how hard you work that you just can't get ahead in the game of life?

I know this sounds like a Zackpe post but damn...life can suck hard.

Where have you gone jod demagio/

2007-11-26T14:35:00.000-06:00

OK - so I know it has been a while since my last post, over six months...here are some of the highlights....

1. Since one of my coworkers quit in February I have been cover a 3rd of the continental US for my "territory"
2. Most of my summer wnt by with not much excitement...I raced a lot (MSRA). Took home a 3rd place trophy for my season long efforts.
3. Went to San Francisco to see the Cal v UT game - had a blast, too bad we still lost!!!
4. Absolutely nothing.

See - I really was doing you a favor by not updating, this way I didn't waste your time!!!

Jesus doesn't eat ribs on Sunday's....

2007-05-07T14:07:00.000-05:00

May has arrived and with it comes the Beale Street Music Fest. Lots of bands, lots of people and usually lots of mud. For the first time in a long time the wife and I ventured downtown for the festival and after a long lay off I have to say that it has come a long way. Gone are the days of uber long port-o-let lines and lack of concessions. It seems that they have finally gotten their acts together - they even had picnic tables to sit at around the park.

We ventured out around 2:45 on Sunday the 6th to see Guster and Bare Naked Ladies. I have to say that the recent development of the down town area has made music fest much more bearable. Lots of garages for parking and plenty of air conditioned places to grab a brew before you head into the park.

We got there just in time to see Guster at 5:15 - great show and a great band. If that drummer ever quits they are toast...his hands must ache for days. Good times and good music. After that was BNL - for those of you who are laughing - let me tell you that you get your money out of a bare naked show. they are hight energy and fun to watch. We had a blast; one of my best experiences at a concert.

Stay together for the kids

2007-04-25T08:36:00.000-05:00

Life the last few weeks has been interesting; intermixed with home inprovement projects, family time and the kids...err..I mean dogs. Sasha has been a blast...now if we can just get that little bladder under control I think we will be well on our way to the nuclear family. We took her to the Vet and found out she had a bladder infection which was wreaking havoc with our attempts to potty train, now we are on meds and having a blast at pill time...MMMMMMM P-NUT BUTTER!!!!

She and sully are really doing well together.....

Although he might beg to differ at times.....

We do have the occaisonal identity crisis and confusion over which dog is the baby....

For the most part this is how we spend our time. I have been riding my bike more and running a few times a week. It feels good to get back to it.

Random thoughts of catching upness....

2007-03-30T08:26:00.000-05:00

Let's see - been a while so where do I start????

1. I told you we bought a new house - that is going well. Lot's of painting and decorating going on; I remodeled the guest bath - will post pics soon.

2. We got a new puppy...Sasha is her name - she is a golden/chocolate lab mix; at least we think she is.....

Sully didn't really know what to think at first but now he is cool with her - you can tell he likes being big brother.....

Other than the pups life has been tied to the new house, just getting moved in is a big hassle. Oh well - we ae getting there!!

No longer homeless....

2007-01-15T11:07:00.000-06:00

With the impending sale of our current residence and lack of success in obtaining a new one the wife and myself were beginning to panic about our lack of housing prospects. That is until late last week. Since several of the homes we were interested in would't work with us or sold before we could get there. In light of all the crap we now have a house. Open rooms and good spaces - not a lot of trees like we were after but it backs up to the Green Belt in C'ville that connects the parks together - I will post more pics later.

The Saga continues -

2007-01-08T11:42:00.000-06:00

So now that we have sold our house we are trying to find a new one. After a lot of debating and arguing we are trying to decide between these......

1. Royal Elm - This house is located in a nice part of Collierville and very close to the Green Belt. We have offered this property before and got no where but feel that we should go back and try again. While the pictures are bad the house is in great shape - new roof, newer A/C, nice floors all the things we would do to make it ours. Point is that we like it as it stand and it would require very little to make it livable for us.

2. Poplar Pike - A traditional 2 story home in Germantown. It has a ton of space -2900+ sq feet to be more accurate, large lot - but it has pink carpet through out and needs to be up dated a little more. It is a nice house but we just can't see ourselves in it all that easily.

So what is your opinion?

AND IT IS SOLD!!!!!

2007-01-05T11:42:00.000-06:00

Last we spoke I had just listed the house - 50 some odd days later it is sold....

now we just need to find a new house; that should be fun.

Our house is a very, very, very fine house!!!!!

2006-11-15T14:35:00.000-06:00

Well; it is official...who wants to buy it ...tell all your friends

House fo sale!!!

The London Times....

2006-10-03T07:44:00.000-05:00

Well I thought about posting individual accounts of each day from my vacation to London but the fact is that I can't keep the days straight without the aid of pictures and my wife so i will hit some of the high points.

Day 2- We started off by heading over to the Portabella Road Market. It was pretty cool, a lot of sidewalk vendors strung out over a bout a 2 mile stretch of rod. They were selling things like antiques, photos, clothes, shoes and food. We made our best purchase here - 4 11x25 photos of different parts of the city - all for 10 pounds or about $20. After that we headed over to the British Musem of art and a little later to the Vicotria and Albert Musem - for a little art and history. We finished up the day with a tour of Kensington Palace, a rather drab "palace" more so a glorified house with a large garden. We had our first Afternoon Tea here and man was it good...we need to start that back in the states, along with nap time.

Day 3 - On Sunday we took a guided tour to Winchester, Stonehenge and Bath. Winchester was a small quite little town with a beautiful Abbey and a small chapel that housed the Round Table that King Arthur used ( see flickr for pics). We were only there a short while - an hour or so - before we headed out to stonehenge. The strangest part of Stonehnge is the location - seemingly in the middle of nowhere; you come upon this out cropping of rocks that just looks out of place.; kind of ominous really. Originally it was made of wood and then some small stones which make up the inner circles today and then finally the large stones that we see now. It was a calendar; much like the Mayan temples, it allowed the people of the time to know when to plant and harvest their crops. Pretty neat really. After that we headed to Bath, toured the old roman bathes and twalked the town for a couple of hours; this is a beaultiful towna and if we do go back to England I would most certainly give it a day or two by itself.

Now your back, from outer space.....

2006-09-29T15:21:00.000-05:00

I know it has been a while but I truly haven't had much to write about until know. Some of you know (and some don't) that my wife and I just returned froma nice little family vacation in London. We spent 6 days in the city and quickly found out why so many love it.

Day One - Arrival at 6 am; get through customs and drop bags at hotel. We immediately headed over to the Tower of London right as they opened and enjoyed a nice - tourist free morning. We were a few of the 50 that were there when it opened...that was nice. We toured the old torture shack and viewed the crown jewela dn headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up from the flight.

After getting cleaned up we headed back out to the pub down the street and got some Fish and Chips and had a beer. Then on our merry way we went to St. Pauls - wherer we climbed the 293 steps to the top. Then crossed the river to the Tate Modern Museum, the new Shakespeare Globe and finally dinner. now at this point we are feeling pretty tired. Neither of us could sleep on the plane and we hadn't stopped since we got in so we are draggin at this point. After dinner we watched a free play by the river and nearly froze from the wind. The weather was pretty nice the whole time but it is like San Fran - warm in the city but cold by the water.

We were trying to hold out for one more thing on the first day...the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London....We got to be there when they locked up - neat to see because only 30 people are allowed each night but not a "must see"

WE booked it straight back to the hotel where we took showers and passed out.

The King of Brokeback Blogging???

2006-08-14T12:34:00.000-05:00

Is it Tony Roy or Boy George???

ZackPe Joins CSC!!!!!!!

2006-07-18T10:43:00.000-05:00

ZACK - WHO KNEW??!?!?!?!

By popluar demand...

2006-07-18T10:01:00.000-05:00

Since so many are curious as to how fast my little car can go I have decided to post this link -

in other words I have no idea of the true speed of my car but this should give you a good idea of the speed - so watch this race from the July 9th electric race here in Memphis.......http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8TGTxRmzfY

Not the greatest vid but it gives a good idea of the speed.

We now return to our regular scheduled program..

2006-07-13T10:22:00.000-05:00

Sorry to the 3 readers that I have for not being here. It has been a strange month.

My last post was about our trip to the Indy 500 - well we had some excitemnet there - my dad decided to have some pass out episodes. Since outr return he has been back and forth to several doctors and is now facing the choice of whether or not he needs a pace maker...that sux.

As some of you know I sold my set of Zipps with King hubs; but what you don't know is why. Well I have been itching to get into some radio controlled hobbies for a while now. originally I wanted a plane - but they are expensive and need a lot of room to fly; not to mention itf you loose control of it you get to watch it spiral to the ground and then pick up the pieces. So I gravitated towards a helicopter since you don't need as much room; but you still run the risk of running it into the ground.

So I settled on this......

I know what you are thinking - what a redneck - but it is actually pretty fun.

2006-05-31T09:20:00.000-05:00

Here are some pics of my trip to Indy this past weekend. It was a great race, a little on the warm side but it turned out nice.

The first pic is of the 19 year old, Marco Andretti's car - he finished second to Sam Hornish, JR. The next two are views from our seats - very nice - great seats...thanks Dad!!! The last one is from the track looking into turn one - I was surprised by how large the grooves were in the pavement of the track - by the end of the race those grooves were full of rubber.

Chasing the little white ball

2006-05-22T11:15:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I took a little time to try and learn a few golf skills - you see while I was working at True Temper I was lucky enough to get a set of clubs given to me. I have only played a few times and there is a reason for that ...I suck. Although I have not had much success I am going to give it another try and see if I can't improve enough to play a little every now and then. I just hope that I don't suck so bad that andrew won't want to go anymore!!

On another note - the wife and I are headed to Indy this weekend for the Indy 500; should be a fun but long weekend for the both of us. It will be a well deserved vacation for the both of us- too bad it is only for the weekend.

The Good Life..

2006-05-12T10:02:00.000-05:00

All of us are after it; seems that Tony might have it.

Can you hear me now??

2006-05-04T15:55:00.000-05:00

So while we are all crying about the price of gas - can I raise another ridiculous price structure? How about cell phones?? You pay per month to get a crappy amount of minutes and then if you go over they jack you with a $.45/minute charge. This is crazy - not only do they charge you this but they get you in these contracts that you can't break with out a $175 fee - per line.

Want a new phone? Here's your new contrat.

Want to add minutes? Here's your new contract.

Can the cost of the infrastructure really be that high? Especially knowing that almost anyone over the age of 13 has one now. These people are printing money.

Swept....Again.

2006-05-02T07:58:00.000-05:00

So we went to the Grizzlies last playoff game last night, what a joke. It sucks getting beat by 20+ at home in the playoffs - much less to extend your playoff success or lack there of to 12 straight losses. In 12 attempts the Grizzlies have failed to win one stupid game. To add insult to injury - only 15k people showed up and at least 1/3 of those were Dallas fans. By the start of the 4th qtr they gave up - they quit- millions of dollars a year and they won't even play a full game.

A bunch of overpaid sissy's if you ask me.

This one's for T.Roy....

2006-05-01T12:27:00.000-05:00

How to be a Good Bush Republican....What You Need To Believe To Be A Good Bush loving Republican
1. Jesus loves you, and shares your hatredof homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.
2. Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armedhim, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him, but ultimately he's the worlds worst tyrant when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.
3. Trade with Cuba is wrong because thecountry is Communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of "international harmony"...
4. The United States should get out of theUnited Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.
5. A woman can't be trusted with decisionsabout her own body, but multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.
6. The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops with quality speeches, while slashing veterans' benefits andcombat pay.7. If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.
8. A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our long-time allies, then demand their cooperation and money.
9. Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy, but providing health care to all Americans is socialism. HMOs and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.
10. Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.
11. A president lying about an extramarital affair is a impeachable offense, but a president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.
12. Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.
13. The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's driving record is none of our business.
14. Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.
15. Supporting "Executive Privilege" for every Republican ever born, who will be born or who might be born (in perpetuity.)
16. What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the '80s is irrelevant.
17. Support for hunters who shoot their friends and blame them for wearing orange vests similar to those worn by the quail.

Enjoy

Sunday

2006-04-24T18:26:00.000-05:00

After my run on Saturday (see below) I took a semi rest day on Sunday. By semi rest day I mean that I was made to work in the yard mulching the flower bed i built (again, see below) and then building a new patio table - made of Western Red Cedar - it will probably outlast me.

Saturday

2006-04-24T18:23:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I took part in the Youth Villages 5k; this was my second 5k since I started running back in January. While I didn't place (and doubt that I ever will) I did best my last time by 2 full minutes finished the 3.1 miles in 27minuts and 4 seconds. Not bad for a fat ass.

It's getting hot in hurrr..

2006-04-18T16:18:00.000-05:00

It seems that while Tony Roy is digging himself out of the snow - the blast furnace of summer has reared its ugly head in Memphis. Here we are - April 18th - and we have already had several days at near record hot temps ; not just warm - I am talking 90 degrees. Just when you think you like spiring BAMMO!! God slams you into summer - yuck!!!

Happy Easter!!!

2006-04-14T11:51:00.000-05:00

No Means No

2006-04-12T09:35:00.000-05:00

We all have them I am sure - I work with one of "those" people that no matter how many times you tell them that you don't like or watch something they continue to pester you about it. This person continues to come and ask me if I watch American Idol - to which I always give the same response - NO. So guess what happened this morning - "Hey Ryan did you watch AI last night?" Do they think the answer is gonna be any different???

On another note I guess I am just peeved that my TiVo box is on the blink and is about to blow up. It has been skipping like a scratched DVD so I have tried all of the fixes to no avail- I did the soft reset several times; so finally I decide to grow a set and clear the hard drive. The screen tells me that it will take an hour or so- well 3 hours later it is still going. So I call DirecTV and ask a few questions and they tell me that it will take up to 4 hours; upon waking up this morning I check it and it is still going - another call and another answer - now it will take up to 24 hours. I can't really complain about the service as I love my DirecTV and have had zero problems, but this is starting to irritate me. JUST SEND ME A NEW ONE ALREADY!!!

Life as a house...

2006-04-10T09:16:00.000-05:00

Being a homewoner isn't all that hard- just time consuming and expensive.For the last few weekends I have been out in the yard builidng a bed and filling it with fdirt. We finally got around to putting some plants in this weekend. some Jasmine vine and a lot of day lillies courtesy of mom in-law. We even had enough to do three rows in the backs and enough to put up front. Now I just have to turn my attention to the lawn.

Feel the burn

2006-04-06T11:57:00.000-05:00

After my little vacation from phsical activity I have returned to my running schedule. Can someone please remind me that I don't need to take 2 weeks off ever again?? I am so sore.

Just where have you been...

2006-04-04T11:33:00.000-05:00

Really, I haven't gone anywhere - just haven't had much to say.

Since spring has sprung, clocks have changed and tornado season has arrived I have been working in the yard to get the house presentable. Built a flower bed for the wife (pictures to follow), hauled 6 cubic yards of dirt from the from to back; for those of you that don't know - that is a lot of dirt. The funny part is that a cubic yard of screen soil really isn't all that expensive - $12 - but to have it delivered cost me $40 to go 2 miles from my house, what a rip off. -After that I cleaned up the front lawn and fertilized it only to have a few storms roll through washing it away - so guess what I get to do this weekend???

I have been pretty lazy during the week though - ever since I got burned I have not kept to my running schedule- well that changes today . Gotta get back on the horse.

only exciting news - we finally got a vacation together and are headed to london in the fall - should be fun!!!

I can't hear you...

2006-03-29T13:15:00.000-06:00

So some jackass in CA has decided to file a lawsuit against Apple claiming that the iPod causes hearing loss. This has forced them to release a software update for the iPod's so that the limits can be adjusted to not exceed a certain maximum - uhhh , correct me if I am wrong but isn't that what the volume control is for????

When will people stop blaming their own actions on other people, that is just as absurd as suing McDonald's for making you fat. Did they force feed you that crap??? Did Apple crank up your volume setting??

Maybe companies should start filing law suits against people for not being to stupid to turn down the volume or put down the burger.

On the backslide

2006-03-27T08:07:00.000-06:00

I used to be a big fan of SNL but lately they just keep sliding into mediocrity. At least most of the time; I know I am a few weeks behind - but this Natalie Portman bit is hilarious.

We don't need no water....

2006-03-22T09:45:00.000-06:00

Let the mother f'er bun. That pretty much sums up the last few days for me.

It all goes back to day saturday morning (harpy flashback music), I awoke to a beautiful day. Sunny and 60-65 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. See a while back I told my wife that we would make a planting bed in the back yard to hide the fence and some of the view of the barren wasteland behind our house. In order to do this I would have to build a small retaining wall across the backyard in order to accomplish this; I have had the materials for at least 8 months and have put it off for a while now. So I thought - what better day than this to get it done.

As I got started I found that while it was cool - I was getting hot and it felt like a great day to get a little sun for casper the friendly ghost. So off came the shirt; this turned out to be a very , VERY bad idea. I got back to work and the hours passed. I looked at my watch and before I knew it it was 330, I had started at 1030 - and had been shirtless most of that time. I thought to myslef - I am gonna hurt tomorrow, so I put the shirt back on and finished up; too little too late.

After I finished I went inside to tkae a shower and realized the extent of the damage. The best way to describe it would be to say that I look like a lobster that never got turned over on the grill, nice and red on one side and raw on the other, not good I thought. I proceeded to start treatment with lotion to lessen the effect and truthfully the pain wasn't all that bad, until the itching started.

On the way home from work Monday night I began to twitch and itch all over my back, not just little itchies here and there but it was like ants were biting all over my back and it wouldn't stop. I got home and changed clothes figuring I should let it breath, bad idea - it only got worse. Soon I was stomping, running, raging around the house trying to figure out a remedy. Finally I got in the shower...ahh the relief, but it would only be temporary. About ten minutes later - it was back and more intense, my wife told me to get in the tub and soak while she went to the store.

She came back with a bunch of stuff - aloe, solarcaine, vitamin E oil - all kinds of stuff; none of which worked. So I struggled to sleep through the night, it seemed to subside that is until I took a shower the next morning. As I normally do I got up to take a shower, got dressed, breakfast - you know the drill. I had a few moments of terror - little flare ups I thought, they will go away - nope. We got in the car and headed to work, at about the halfway point I began to twitch and itch more and more; it got so bad that I had to pull over. I can ony imagine how funny it must have looked to the passers by - a half dressed man getting a rubdown in the parking lot of an old antique store - I would have laughed.

I tried to go on but it only got worse - so back to the house we go. Running for the shower clothes flying everywhere all I could do was beg for it to stop but it wouldn't. I jumped out of the shower and my wife lathered me up again. Impatiently I waited for the lotion to go to work and sooth my itchines, but it only got worse and she had left for work. So here I am - flailing and writhing in the floor - just like the dog, although he must find it more civil when he does it because he was looking at me like I was possessed.

Anyway, I spent most of the morning on tuesday either in the shower or in the tub - I knew this would not speed up the healing process but it would give me relief for a short while. My wife stopped by the store on the way home and talked to the pharmacist, she told here everything we had tried and only had one suggestion left - Calamine Lotion. I had my doubts that it would work but after getting a pretty good layer on my back - the itching began to subside, not totally but at least it had become tolerable.

So the moral of the story today kids??? Always wear sunscreen or you will pay!!!!

Me biased??, never...

2006-03-19T15:09:00.000-06:00

I am watching the memphis v. bucknell game today and have come to the realization that while our team is top 3 in talent, has a 31-3 record, conference championship and a #1 seed in the tourny - everyone is rooting for them to loose. Maybe I am little more sensitive but it seems to me that all the announcers will gladly point out the good things about the tigers but they continue to pull for the underdog team. What a crock!!!!

Go Tigers Go!!!

2006-03-18T17:55:00.000-06:00

The Memphis Tigers have advanced to the second round of the NCAA tourny. They gotta keep winning or my bracket is shot.

Its' about time....

2006-03-16T15:38:00.000-06:00

I can now say that I am better at something than Gary Zyriek, seems that while I will never be able to out run or out ride Gary - I may just out live him. I think those stats might be skewed though. It seems to me that there are a whole lot less Zyrieks than Carmichaels to sample.

Try your luck...here

Dr Jones ...wait!!!

2006-03-15T09:03:00.000-06:00

So, I am cruising the entertainment news this morning an stumbled across this little gem. Apparently Harrison Ford is going to make ANOTHER Indiana Jones movie. I can see the ending now, either he pulls his whip and attemps to swing from it only to realize that he is not strong enough to hold on and fall into some cavernous pit and die - or he will just have a heart attack as he goes for the gold and the woman. Speaking of woman - I wonder if Indy will have to pop that certain "little blue pill" ....wouldn't that be humor.

Beautiful Day

2006-03-14T14:25:00.000-06:00

Just got back to work after a brisk 5 miler at lunch. It reminded me of those college days when we used to beg the prof to take the class out side. Just plain nice.

Times a wastin'

2006-03-13T13:51:00.000-06:00

Once again I find myself at work and not enough to fill my day, so I have added some new links to the page. I really want to change the header on this page since there are about 50 million others just like it but I haven't quite mastered the programming yet.

Strange days here in Memphis, the weather has been hot and humid. I went riding with Tulio the other day and it felt like a summer day - you know the kind - you stop for a while and sweat to the point of soaking your jersey, then you start back and it feels ohhhh so cool.

Welcome to my blog

2006-03-12T00:40:00.000-06:00

Welcome. thanks for the help tulio, now I just have to figure out the coding and we will be straight. Any ideas are welcome -